With Juan Mata’s contract set to expire at the end of the season, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admitted he’s still hoping to see the Spaniard commit his future to Manchester United.
On April 12th, we carried a report from Sport, who claimed the former Chelsea star’s father met Barcelona officials and the La Liga winners consider the 31-year-old’s profile ‘interesting’.
The same Catalan newspaper now brings an update on the player’s future as he’ll be available on a free transfer, if the decides against committing his future to the Red Devils.
It’s claimed that Mata earns a net salary of less than €5m per year and has offers from three European clubs to join them as a free agent in the next transfer window.
However, Mata’s ‘first option’ is joining Ernesto Valverde’s side, which is why he and his surroundings are going to wait for an offer from Barca before making any decision on his future.
His desire to play for the Camp Nou club is so much that his environment have for three months been ‘shying away from United’s offer’ to sign an extension. It’s only become more complicated after they failed to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Due to Mata’s age, he believes a two-year deal with an option to further extend it by 12 months would be ideal for him.
Any offer from the Spanish champions is delayed because they are focused on winning the Champions League. They face Liverpool in the second leg of the semi-final clash at Anfield and have a 3-0 advantage from the first leg.
Only after listening to Barcelona’s potential offer, and working out if it suits him, will Mata consider offers from other clubs.
